The Pink Moon lights up the night sky during Mini Moon Phenomenon

The term 'Pink Moon' was created by the Algonquin tribes native to the New England and Lake Superior regions. Since April's moon tended to coincide with the flowering of the pink-petaled wild ground phlox plant (also known as herb moss pink) - one of the earliest plants to flower in spring - the tribes gave it the name 'Pink Moon'.

Friday night was a delight to watch for stargazers as they witnessed very rare Mini Moon, a phenomenon that will reoccur after 15 years. The moon appeared to be smaller in size as it touched the farthest point while orbiting the Earth.

The moon was at apogee at 9.35 PM IST on 22 April. The moon was nearly 4,06,350 km from the Earth while its average distance from Earth is 3,84,000 km. Due to the longer distance, the moon appeared smaller in size than average day, said Debiprosad Duari, Director of M P Birla Planetarium, Kolkata.

Since the phenomenon of ‘Mini Moon’ occurred in the morning at 10:55 AM, stargazers and space enthusiast didn’t witness it due to the presence of daylight. However, at the night, the moon was little bigger and a shade lighter when people saw it. The silvery pearl colored moon was giving spectacular view in the night sky.

The next ‘Mini Moon’ phenomenon will occur on December 10, 2030.

Moreover, the moon will appear to be largest — the ‘Super Moon’ in November when it will be about 45,000 km closer to Earth when compared to April’s moon.